Wire-fabric machine



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J. 0. & W.,J. POPE.

\ WIRE FABRIC MACHINE.

No 567,360. Patented Sept. 8, 1896.

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(No Model.)

J. O. 8: W. J. POPE. WIRE FABRIC MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 8, 1896.

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J. 0. "8n W. J. POPE;

WIRE FABRIG MACHINE. No. 567,360. Patented Sept. 8, 1896. "I" IIIIIIII II m, m A

- UNITED STATES PATENT DF ICE.

JOHN C. POPE AND iVILLIAllI .I. POPE, or FOX, ILLINOIS.

WIRE-FABRIC MACHINE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.567,366, dated September 8, 1896:

Application filed April 27,1896. Serial No. 589,270. (No model.) j

T all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J OHN O. POPE and IVILLIAH J. POPE; citizens of theUnited States,residing at Fox, in the county of Kendall and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Wire-FabricMachine, of

- which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire-fabric machines; and it has for itsobject to provide a new and useful machine of this character primarilyintended to be used on the field in the construction of wire fences, butwhich may also be used in the shop for weaving wire fabric or fencing.To accomplish'these objects, the machine isso constructed that thevarious parts thereof can be easily controlled and operated toinsureapositive weaving operation, whereby a symmetrical line of fabric orfencing can be uniformly and quickly woven.

With these and other objects in view, which will readily appear as thenature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in thenovel construction, combination, and arrangement of partshereinaftermore fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is aside elevation of a wire fabric or fencemachine constructed in accordance with thisinvention and shown in itsproper position for weaving a line of wire fencing. Fig. 2 is a frontelevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional viewthereof. Fig. 4 is a detail cross-section on the line 44 of Fig. 3. Fig.5 is a rear elevation of a portion of the machine, illustrating themechanism for adj usting the slide-bars and for turning the series ofintergeared twister-wheels. vertical sectional view on the line 6 6 ofFig. 1, including the slide-bars of the shifting device. Fig. 7 is asimilar view showing a different adjustment of parts from thearrangement shown in Fig. 6. Figs. 8 and 9 are enlarged detailelevations showing different positions of one of the twister-wheels incon-nection with the shuttle-pieces carried thereby and a pair of theshiftingplates for said shuttle-pieces. Fig. 10 is a detail inperspective of one of the twister-wheels carrying a pair ofshuttle-pieces and'spool-holders. Fig. 11 is an enlarged detailelevation of one of the spool-holders and shuttle-pieces, showlargeddetail sectional Fig. 6 is a ing the manner of inserting and'removingthe shuttle-piece from the holder. Fig. 12 is a detail in perspective ofone of the shuttlepieces. Fig. 13 is a'detail in perspective ofv oneof'the spool-holders. Fig. 14 is an enview on the line 1414 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 6o designates an upright frame,which is illustrated as being a single vertical frame-piece, which maybe of any desired length, accord ing to the width or height of thefabric or fencing to be woven. The upright frame 1 of the machine hasfitted to the oppositelower side edges thereof at its extreme lower endthe short bearing-spindles 2, on which are journaled the traveler-wheels3, rolling on the upper side of a ground-track 4, which is 7.0 designedto be arranged stationary on the ground or floor over which the machineis designed to travel as the weaving'of the fabric progresses. At theinnersides of the oppositetraveler-Wheels 3 of the frame. thegroundtrack 4 hasfitted thereon the guide-rails 5, which prevent lateraldisplacement of the wheels 3 from the track 4, and therefore serve toguide the machine in a straight line as the same is propelled on theground-track 8o 4, as will bereadily'u'nderstood.

The frame 1 of the machine is guided and braced in its upright positionby means of an inclined brace-standard 6, secured at its upper end,'asat 7, to therear side ofthe frame at an intermediate point, and heldrigidly in its inclined position by means of the short brace-bar 8,connected therewith and also with the frame 1. The inclinedbracestandard 6 is provided at its lower end with 0 a T foot-piece 9,which slidably Works in the space between and below the longitudinalrack-plates 10 of a sectional rack 1'1. The sectional rack 11 consistsof the two angled rack-plates l0, spaced a distanceapart to 5 admit inthe slot therebetween the lower end of the standard 6 and securedlongitudinally on the upper side of the ground-track 4, so as to extendthe entire length of the said track. The spaced angled rack-plates 10are pro- 10: vided on their upper sides with the rackteeth 12, which areengaged by the lower end of the pivoted pawl-plate 13, the upper end ofwhich pawl-plate is pivotallyconnected at 14 to the lower end of apropelling-lever 15, pivoted intermediate of its ends, as at 16, to thebrace-standard 6, and adapted to be moved toward and away from theupright frame 1 to provide for propelling the machine along the track asthe weaving progresses. It will of course be understood that when thepropelling-lever 15 is moved toward the rear side of the frame 1 thepivoted pawlplate 13 freely rides over the rack-teeth 12, and as theupper end of said propelling-lever is drawn away from the frame thepawl-plate catches in the rack-teeth, so that a continued pull on thelever will draw the machine along the desired distance, according to themesh of the fabric being woven, for the movement of the saidpropelling-lever, so as to carry the pawl-plate over any desired numberof rackteeth, provides accurate means for weaving the fabric any desiredwidth of mesh.

The upright frame 1 of the machine is provided therein with alongitudinal series of regularly-spaced wire-openings 17, in which arefitted the stationary elongated warp-wire tubes 18, which extend adistance beyond both sides of the frame to form guides for thelongitudinal line or warp wires a of the fabric or fencing to be woven,and the number of wire-openings 17 and wire-tubes 18 may be regulated tosuit the particular number of warp-wires in the fabric to be wovenalthough, for the purpose of illustrating the present invention, thefabric or fencing in Fig. 1 is shown as having six of the warp-wires a,there being a corresponding number of the wire-tubes 18.

At one side of the upright frame 1 the elongated warp-wire tubes 18 formbearingspindles for the vertical series of intermeshing coggedtwister-wheels 19, all of which wheels have a simultaneous rotation byreason of the cogs or teeth of each wheel meshing with the cogs or teethof the adjacent wheels above and below the same. Atwisterwheel 19 isloosely journaled on each of the tubes 18 at one side of the frame 1,and each twister-wheel is provided at its inner side with an inner hubprojection 20, which works against the adjacent side of the frame 1 andforms a spacing-block to space the twisterwheel from the frame, saidintervening space being designed to accommodate for movement certainparts of the machine to be hereinafter more particularly referred to.Each twister-wheel19 is provided with peripheral cogs or teeth 21,meshing with the peripheral cogs or teeth of the adjacent wheels, andwith a pair of alined diametrically opposite open slots 22, leadinginward from the periphery of the wheel to a point adjacent to the hubthereof, and one of said twister-wheels is further provided with a hubextension 23, projected through the frame 1 to the rear side thereof andcarrying at its outer end a beveled gear-wheel 24, meshing with anadjacent beveled gear-pinion 25, mounted at the inner end of acrank-shaft 26, journaled in suitable bearings 2'7 on the rear side ofthe frame 1, and carrying at its outer end a crank-handle 28, which ismanipulated by the operator to provide for rotating the entire series ofintermeshing twisterwheels during the operation of twisting theweft-wires Z) around the warp-wires or onto each other at their point ofintersection.

The open slots 22 of the twister-wheels 19 are designed to slidablyreceive therein the shiftable shuttle -pieces 29. The shiftableshuttle-pieces 29 essentially consist of a single casting having a fiatweb or shank 30 adapted to snugly register in one of the slots 22, andof a greater width than the thickness of the twister-wheels, and thefiat web or shank 30 of each of the shiftable shuttlepieces 29 isprovided at its outer side edge with a T-head 31 and at its inner sideedge with a widened retaining-flange 32, disposed at right angles to theweb or shank 30, and having a rounded edge 33, said widenedretaining-flange 32 of each shuttle-piece being designed to rotate andslide vertically at the inner side of the twister-wheels between thesame and the adjacent side of the frame of the machine.

In connection with each of the slidable or shiftable shuttle-pieces 29is employed a spool-holder 34, consisting of an open rectangular frame34, composed of the opposite parallel side and end bars 35 and 36,respectively, and the opposite side bars 35 of the holder frame 34 havefitted therein the spindle extremities 37 of a wire-spool 38, on whichspool is reeled a sufficient quantity of weftwire I) for use in weavingthe fabric or fencing. The outer end bar 36 of the spoolholder 34 isprovided therein with a longitudinal wire-opening 39, which forms aguide for the weft-wire as it unravels from the spool within the holder,and the inner end bar 36 of the said holder-frame is provided thereinwith a longitudinal slide-slot 40, extending from end to end of the saidend bar and communicating at its ends with the T-shaped entrance-slots41, formed in the opposite side bars 35 of the holder-frame.

Each spool-holder frame 34 is adapted to be connected with thetwister-wheel for rotating the same by one of the shiftableshuttle-pieces 29 and to connect one of the shuttle-pieces with saidholder-frame. The T-head 31 of said shuttle-piece is inserted throughone of the T-shaped entrance-slots 41 of the holder-frame, therebycarrying the crosspiece of said T-head 31 within the holderframe 34 atthe inner side of the end bar having the slide-slot 40, and when thefiat web or shank 30 of the shuttle-piece fits in one of the openshuttle-slots 22 of a twisterwheel the said cross-piece of the T-head 31will hold the inner end barof the spool-holder frame against the outerside of the twisterwheel in a rigid position, so that it will positivelyrotate with the twister-wheel to provide for carrying the weft-wirearound the warp-wire. The shuttle-pieces '29 are of a materiallynarrower width than the holderframes, so as to freely slide within saidholderframes from side to side thereof, and at this point it will benoted that the cross portions of the entrance-slots 41 are locatedsufficiently remote from the inner end bar of each spoolholder framethat when a shuttle-piece is properly fitted within the holder-frame andin the shuttle-slot of a twister-wheel the T-head 31 of saidshuttle-piece will be disposed out of alinement with the said T-shapedslots 41, and will thereby serve to securely retain the spool-holderframe in a proper position against and at the outer side of thetwister-wheel with which it rotates.

Shifting mechanism is employed in conjunction with-the shuttle-pieces 29to provide for shifting the same from one twister-wheel to another, andthis mechanism will now be particularly referred to. At its oppositeside edges the frame 1 is provided with the longitudinal slide-grooves42, adapted to slidably receive therein the oppositely-reciprocatingslide-bars 43, which are disposed flush with the front face of the frame1 and are properly retained in position within the grooves 42 by meansof the guide-clips 44, attached to opposite side edges of the frame 1and embracing the said slide-bars 43. The oppositely-reciprocatingslide-bars 43 each has pivotally connected thereto one end of anadjusting-rod 45, the other end of which rod pivotally connects with oneof the crank-arms 46 at opposite ends of a rock-shaft 47, journaled insuitable bearings at the rear side of the upright frame 1, near the topthereof. One of the rock-arms 46 at one end of the rock-shaft 47 .isextended into a lever-handle 48, which is manipulated to provide formoving the said slide-bars 43 up and down in the grooves or waystherefor, whereby the shuttle-pieces may be readily shifted from onetwister-wheel to another through the medium of the oppositely-arrangedshifter-plates 49. A series of the shifter-plates 49 arefitted to thefront face of each of the opposite slide-bars 43 and project inwardlyfrom said slide-barsso as to work up and down in the space between thevertical series of twister-wheels and the adjacent side of the frame 1,and each of said shifting-plates 49 is provided with a'concaved innerside edge 50, forming upper and lower shifting-prongs 51, which aredisposed on a line in close proximity to the vertical center of themachine, whereby the shifting-prongs 51 of directly oppositeshifting-plates will be disposed sufficiently close together so as topositively prevent the displacement ofthe shuttle-pieces from thetwister-wheels, while at the same time being adapted to just miss thehubs of the twister-wheels in order that the shuttle-pieces may bepositively and easily shifted from one twister-wheel to another, as willbe readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In weaving a wire-fence fabric with a machine'of the character hereindescribed it is well understood that during the operation of weaving theweft-wires onto the warp-wires every alternate twister-wheel is activeand carries the shuttle-pieces and spool-holders in pairs, except, ofcourse, when twisting on either the top or bottom warp-wire, and thenthe active twister-wheel for said top or bottom warp-wire carries only asingle shuttlepiece and a single spool-holder, as plainly illustrated inFig. 1 of the drawings. While every alternate twister-wheel are the onlyactive twisting-wheels at any time during the operation of the machine,still it will be understood that all of said wheels act as gearwheels toprovide for a positive uniform rotation of the entire series, and whenone set of active wheels have been rotated to provide for twisting theweft-wires either together or onto the warp-wires at their points ofintersection the sh uttlepieces must then be shifted to thosetwister-wheels which were previously inactive, so that the desired meshmay be formed.

"With the twister-wheels turned to a position in which theshuttle-slots'of all of the wheels will be in precise alinement, asplainly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 6 of the drawings, it will beobserved that the slots of the directly adjacent Wheels are in directcommunication with each other, so that the shuttlepieces can bereadilyshifted from one twisterwheel to another; or to more explicitydefine this relation of the shuttle-slots 22 it may be stated that whenalined, as described, the upper slot of one wheel communicates directlywith the lower slot of the wheel immediately above the same, while thelower slot of said wheel communicates with the upper slot of the nextlower twister-wheel.

As already explained, each shuttle-piece 29 carries a spool-holder frame34 and at the same time is slidably mounted in said spoolholder frame,so that it (the shuttle-piece) is 'free to slide from one'twister-wheelto another to connect the spool-holder frame with such othertwister-wheel, and therefore in order to connect a spool-holder with apreviouslyinactive twister-wheel the shuttle-piece fitted to saidspool-holder is shifted by means of the mechanism described into one ofthe shuttleslots of such previously-inactive wheel as will be obviousfrom an inspection of the drawings. 7

Except for the top and bottom warp-wires each alternate twister-wheel isdesigned to carry a pair of shuttle-pieces and also a pair ofspool-holders which are connected with the wheel, and by rotation of thetwister-wheel, through the medium of the operating connectionsdescribed, the weft-wires carried by the said pair of spool-holders willbe twisted around each other at their point of intersection, or at leastaround the warp-wire'passing through the tube of said twister-,wheeh'asplainly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the, drawings. After this twistingoperation the series of IIO twistervheels are turned to the startingpositions with the slots of all of the wheels in precise verticalalinement, as described, and with the wheels in this position there is aspoolholder arranged between and overlapping each adjacent pair oftwister wheels, as plainly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. It isnow necessary to shift the shuttle-pieces to those shifter-wheels whichwere previously inactive so as to connect the spool-holders with suchtwister-wheels, and this is effected by manipulating the lever-handle 48in order to move the slide-bars 43 in opposite directions. The movementof the slide-bars 43 in opposite directions carries one set ofshiftingplates 49 in an upward direction and the opposite set in adownward direction, and those shifting-plates 49 which move in an upwarddirection have their lower shifting-prongs 51 engage against the widenedretaining-flanges 32 of the shuttle-pieces in the upper shuttleslots ofthe twister-wheels and slide such shuttle-pieces into the lowershuttle-slots of the previously-inactive wheel immediately thereabove,while those shifting-plates 49 which move in a downward directionoperate to slide the shuttle-pieces in the lower shuttle-slots of thetwister-wheels into the upper shuttle-slots of the previously-inactivewheels immediately therebelow, as will be readily understood by thoseskilled in the art. In thus shifting the shuttle-pieces from onetwister-wheel to another it will of course be observed that thespool-holders remain in a fixed position and the T-heads 31 of theshuttle-pieces slide within the spool-holders at the inner sides of theinner end bars of the holderframes, thereby providing means whereby aspool-holder can be connected with either of two twister-wheels by thesame shuttle-piece.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation andmany advantages of the herein-described machine will be readily apparentto those skilled in the art without further description, and it will beunderstood that changes in the form, proportion, and the minor detailsof construction maybe resorted to without departing from the principleor sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, and desired to besecured by Letters Patent, is

1. In a wire-fabric machine, the combination of a stationary groundtrack having guide rails thereon near its opposite side edges, asectional rack secured longitudinally on the ground-track and comprisinga pair of spaced angled rack-plates provided on their upper sides withrack-teeth, the upright traveling-machine frame carrying at its lowerend traveler-wheels rolling on the track at the outer sides of saidguide-rails, and a bracestandard connected with said traveling-machineframe and provided at its lower end witha T foot-piece slidably workingin the space between and below said rack-plates,

and a propelling-lever mounted 011 said standard and carrying at itslower end a pivoted pawl-plate engaging with saidrack-teetlnsubstantially as set forth.

2. In a wire-fabric machine, a series of in tergeared twister-wheelshaving shuttle-slots, sp0ol--holders, separate shuttle-pieces slidablyconnected with said spool-holders and working in the slots of saidwheels and means for shifting the shuttle-pieces while the holdersremain in a stationary position, substantially as set forth.

3. In a wire-fabric machine, a series of intergeared twister-wheelshaving shuttle-slots, spool-holders, a shuttle-piece slidably anddetachably connected with each spool-holder and adapted to register inone of the shuttleslots of either of two twister-wheels, and a shiftingdevice for shifting each shuttle-piece from one adjacent wheel toanother while the holder with which the shuttle-piece is connectedremains in a stationary position, substantially as set forth.

4. In a wire-fabric machine, a verticallyalined series of intermeshingcogged twisterwheels provided each with a pair of alined diametricallyopposite open slots leading inward from the periphery of the wheel to apoint adjacent to the hub, spool-holder frames, separate shuttle piecesslidably connected with said spool-holder frames and working in theslots of the wheels and means for shiftin g the shuttle-pieces while theholder-fram es remain in a stationary position, substantially as setforth.

5. In a wire-fabric machine, a vertically.- alined series ofintermeshing cogged twisterwheels having shuttle slots, spool holderframes having slotted end bars, and a shiftable shuttle-piece detachablyand slidably connected with the end bar of each holderframe and workingin the shuttle-slots of either of two twister-wheels, substantially asset forth.

6. In a wire-fabric machine a series of intermeshing vertically-alinedtwister-wheels having shuttle-slots, spool-holders comprising an openrectangular frame carrying a wire-spool and provided in its inner endbar with a longitudinal slide-slot and in its opposite side bars withT-shaped entrance-slots communicating with the ends of said slideslot,and a shiftable shuttle-piece for each of said spool-holders, saidshuttle-piece having a web or shank fitting in said shuttleslots andprovided at its outer side edge with a T-head adapted to be passedthrough said T-shaped entrance-slots, and to slidably work within theholder-frame at one side of the slotted inner end bar thereof,substantially shaped entrance-slots communicating with the ends of saidslide-slot, the cross portions of said T-shaped slots being remote fromsaid inner end bar of the holder-frame, and a shiftable shuttle-piecefor each of said spoolholders, said shuttle-piece having a web or shankfitting in said shuttle-slots and provided at one side edge with aretaining-flange Working at one side of the twister-Wheels and at itsopposite side edge with a T-head adapted to slidably Work Within theholderframe at one side of the slotted inner end bar thereof and out ofalinement with said T-shaped entrance-slots, substantially as set forth.

'8. In a wire-fabric machine, the frame, a Vertical series of elongatedstationary Warpwire tubes fitted in said frame, a verticallyalinedseries of intermeshing cogged twister- Wheels journaled on said tubesatone side of the frame and provided at their inner sides with inner hubprojections Working against the adjacent side of the frame to space theWheels therefrom, said twister-wheels having shuttle-slots, spool-holderframes, a shiftable shuttle-piece for each spool-holder frame, saidshuttle-piece slidably connecting at its outer edge with thespool-holder frame and provided at its inner edge with a widenedretaming-flange rotating and sliding at the inner side of the.twister-wheels in the space between the latter and the frame, andopposite sets of oppositely-reciprocating shifting- ,plates havingconcaved inner side edges forming opposite shifting-prongs adapted toengage with said retaining-flange to provide for shifting eachshuttle-piece fromthe slot in one Wheel into the alined slot of anadjacent Wheel, substantially as set forth.

9. In a Wire-fabric machine, the upright frame, a vertical series ofintermeshing cogged twister-Wheels supported at one side of the frameand spaced therefrom, said Wheels having shuttle-slots, spool-holders,shiftable shuttle-pieces slidably and detachably connected With saidholders and Working in the slots of the Wheels, said shuttle-piecesbeing provided With retaining-flanges rotating and sliding in the spacebetween the inner sides of the twister-Wheels and the frame, oppo-

